This invention relates to a method and apparatus for imposing preferences on broadcast/multicast service. While the exemplary embodiment of the invention is particularly directed to the art of audio communications, and will be thus described with specific reference thereto, it will be appreciated that the invention is equally applicable to other public broadcast/multicast media and has usefulness in other fields and applications. For example, the invention can be used with video and multimedia communications.
By way of background, it is a frequent occurrence for an end-user to tune into a broadcast/multicast station and find little of interest. At other times, it is common for an end-user to find an initial segment of a program to be of interest, but the latter part is no longer of interest to the audience. This gives rise to the so called “channel surfing” phenomenon. However, even with channel surfing, there is a large likelihood of missing out on a more interesting program, while having selected another program.
This poses a dilemma—should the audience poll all available channels sequentially before selecting a channel that is of interest, and, having selected such a channel, how would the audience know that another more interesting program would begin in a moment?
The broadcast/multicast media offered is for general consumption by the masses, and this plethora of choices puts the audience in the above quandary. Therefore, a need exists to let the audience make an intelligent choice between available media channels so as to closely match their interests and preferences.
Broadcasting/multicasting stations typically publish a schedule of their programming in one or more of the following ways, among others:                TV and Radio Station Guides published on paper        EPG (Electronic Programming Guide) sent via the broadcast/multicast media itself        Ticker lines at the bottom of the visual display providing information about the next program on this channel        Announcements of “coming attractions” on an audio channel        
The solutions are all disparate and each one comes with its shortcomings. The multitude of the available channels makes it next to impossible to get a sense from hundreds of entries at any given time in the paper guide to choose the right channel. EPG has the issue that if the channels are not juxtaposed, it requires several clicks on the remote to locate them and compare the contents. Ticker lines provide information on what is next on the tuned-to channel, not on another one, and the audio announcements suffer from the same problem.
Secondly, a large selection of personal portable entertainment devices provide for personalization, whereby a person can choose specific audio songs, or video programming to be rendered from these devices. While this is one way of personalization, it is to be noted that the preference imposition is not being made on a channel and these are unicast (or shared between a couple of friends at most) channels. An associated shortcoming with this approach is that the audience may be subjected to a repeat of select choices only, since it is not conceivable that such portable devices can hold a library of all possible media elements of interest to a person. Such a library would be physically difficult to create and maintain as well as being economically unviable.
The present invention contemplates a new and improved method and apparatus that resolve the above-referenced difficulties and others.